2017-07-16 Solaris Site Report: Temple of Rejection

SITE REPORT SOLARIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND (SOLSOC) Prepared by Elhaym van Houten Authorized for release to Gebler Special Exploratory Group (SEG) (Clearance-confirmed contractors included)

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SCENE LOG:	Rocks Fall Somehow Nobody Dies
LOCATION:	Temple of Rejection
PARTICIPANTS:	2LT van Houten, 2LT Voss, 2LT Ortell, Ethius Hesiod, Cyre H. Lorentz, 'Spring Breeze'
RELICS RECOVERED:	Red 'Scutum'
PRE-EXPLORATION SUMMARY:	According to the operational plan of Loren Voss, I, Voss, and Cardia Ortell approached the ruin known as the "Temple of Rejection" near the settlement of Gounon. We approached in disguise, trailing the man known as Ethius, the Attacker of Diablo. He was accompanied by another man named Cyre H. Lorentz, who claims to be a "professional traveler," as well as an entity resembling a dark-skinned woman with red eyes and possessing some form of Wind/Electric energy manifestations. This latter entity appears to be invisible to some, but my perception training reveals their presence clearly. Lorentz also saw this entity and spoke with her several times. I have not encountered records of such entities, so I will propose the code name "Spring Breeze," which I will use henceforth in this report.
EXPLORATION SUMMARY:	The following incidents occurred during our entrance into the Temple of Rejection. The collection of some sort of apple wine offering on the outside steps of the temple facility. This proceeded without much incident. Both Lorentz and "Spring Breeze" acquired several bottles of the liquor. An entity manifestation around an altar structure which presented a sphere of pulsing violet light with a negative, "cold" Etheric fingerprint. An entity resembling a cartoon of a human being, gold with a black head, appeared and attacked. We were not able to overcome this "Black Sun," and instead eluded it, continuing forwards. An empty room of complex structure (stairways etc.) which sealed completely upon our entrance. Between our efforts and those of the surface-dwellers, we managed to blast through an exit. A ceiling-mounted stone slab fell down during our next traversed space. It seemed to be attached to machinery, no doubt to permit multiple drops. Cardia was able to brace it long enough for Loren and I to produce stone pillars to support it. Our efforts to destroy the drop/hoist mechanism were in vain, although we escaped without fatal injury. A complicated access gate puzzle involving labyrinths. I made a command decision to operate the "stone arrow" console at an originating crossroad. Other than a small cut from the console's "arrow" we managed to find our way deeper. An encounter with an extremely large poisonous moth-like creature. We were collectively exposed to toxic materials at some length, although our use of Ether attacks and the efforts of the surface-dwellers drove it off. This creature is not harmed - and may be energized - by Wind-type Ether manifestations. Please take note if you attempt entrance. A security terminal. The surface dwellers reacted with superstitious fear and loathing to the presence of computer technology, attempting to destroy it or make ritual offerings of apple wine. I believe "Spring Breeze" attempted some sort of possession or intrusion. In the end, Ortell disabled it with some basic network administration commands. Finally, we discovered what seemed to be storage for humanoid autonomous robots. While we did not encounter any of these in battle, they came in two colors and seemed to have related equipment, based on my examination. We were able to depart with an example of the "red" model, and I believe the surface-dwellers secured a "blue" model, which it was not feasible to prevent due to the presence of "Spring Breeze."
RECOMMENDED ACTION:	My conclusions: This site is extremely dangerous and is likely to kill most Diggers. Despite this, it may be valuable to secure the location or seal the autonomous robot supply. It might also be possible to program logger software for the security system we discovered. We should determine more facts about "Spring Breeze," who has encountered Loren before. Cardia Ortell performed with exemplary courage and was pivotal to the success of the operation. Loren Voss also contributed meaningfully. This concludes the report.
COMMENTS:	Object Analysis (2017-07-26): The red unit that Ortell, Voss and I were able to recover from the Temple of Rejection has been analyzed by the technology team and I am presenting their findings. The "Scutum" was apparently of Zeboim-era technology and does not have meaningful autonomous capability, containing only a single if relatively complex subroutine, which was labelled internally as the "LOLITHIA PROTOCOL." Analysis of this subroutine is available from tech team but the executive summary is that its function is to locate and, presumably, destroy or drive off intruders to the Temple. Historical data from the Gounon sector indicates that the site was regularly visited with a singular absence of red and blue autonomous killing machines attempting to purge, and as such it would seem that this behavior has been triggered by the activation of the "LOLITHIA PROTOCOL." As such, it would seem that some shift in the regional situation or other environmental factors have activated "LOLITHIA PROTOCOL." While an educated guess can be made, it might be beneficial to attempt to obtain another working example of the Scutum units, in order to verify and potentially identify more functional details about whatever has caused the activation of "LOLITHIA PROTOCOL." It may also be valuable to insert logger software or some other intrusion into the site's security systems, who may or may not have a connection to "LOLITHIA PROTOCOL."